Page:History of Utah.djvu/334

 S., 1848, 54.

thistles, to M^hich fare was sometimes added a little flour or milk. The wheat crop, however, turned out better than was expected, and pumpkins, melons, and corn yielded good returns.^'^

On the 10th of August, however, the harvest being then gathered, a feast was held in the bowery, at which the tables were loaded with a variety of viands, vegetables, beef, and bread, butter and cheese, with cakes and pastry. Sheaves of wheat and other grain were hoisted on harvest poles; "and," says Parley, "there was prayer and thanksgiving, congratulations, songs, speeches, music, dancing, smiling faces, and merry hearts."

The rendezvous for westward-bound brethren in the spring of 1848 was the Elkhorn River, and thither at the end of May came the president, who organized the people and gave them instructions to be observed on the way. Good order was to be preserved in camp; there must be no shouting; prayers were to be at- tended to, and lights put out at 9 o'clock. Drivers of teams must walk beside their oxen, and not leave them without permission. Brigham was general super- intendent of the emigrating companies, with Daniel H. Wells as aide-de-camp, H. S. Eldredge marshal, and Hosea Stout captain of the night-guard. Mov- ing west early in June, on the 14th the emigrants were fired on by Indians, two being wounded. At this time also there was sickness in the camp. To secure grass and water, the emigration was sepa- rated into divisions, of which there were two principal

^* 'Wheat harvest good. Co.: crop good. The worms ate some in the ear. Price of wheat, $2 a bushel. Population, 1,800; n.ain fence, 12 miles long. Had a surplus of bread -stuff this year.' Hint. B. Young, MS., Aug. 1, 1848, 52. Parley states that he and his family, in common with many others, suffered much for want of food. He had ploughed and planted, in grain and vegetables, nearly 40 acres, nearly every women and child in his family toiling in the field so far as their age and strength would permit. Autobiog., 405. 'One family had nothing but milk to live upon;... they would let a portion thicken, and then icix it with new milk and eat it for bread. They lived upon it for six weeks, and thrived.' Eli2;a Snow, in Utah Notes, MS., 6.